I waited with bated breath as her hands fluttered at her side. She was nervous.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted out. My heart soared with the possibility of a reconciliation. “I was wrong. I reacted so badly, and I treated you worse. You didn’t deserve my reaction and neither did Artemis.”
I thought he was going to force a shift right then; he was so happy she’d included him in her apology. “You...?” My words wouldn’t come out right. I was still too shocked she was saying them.
“I love you,” she said loudly. “I love you and I love Artemis. And I don’t want to be apart from either of you anymore. I want you in my life and in Tiffany’s life. You dropped everything to rescue her, and still, I didn’t know what to say or how to say it, but you did it anyway, even after I hurt you. I’m absolutely terrified of the unknown and of taking risks. The last time I took a risk, I got Tiffany and lost my best friend. But nothing can change how I feel for you. How much I appreciate you being by my side, always being there for me.” She sucked in a huge breath and kept talking. “I don’t want to stand in the way of any of your dreams. Not here and not in California. We’ll find a way to make it work if you still want to. If you’re still game, I want to be a part of your end goal.” She seemed to deflate a little and looked around at my family. “I couldn’t let you leave without telling you,” she whispered. “I had to make sure you knew.”
My mind whirred with questions and scenarios where we could be torn apart again, but if I didn’t take her into my arms, I was going to lose my mind. Surging forward, I gathered my mate—my love—close and pressed my lips to hers with a desperation I hadn’t known was there. I’d known I was sad. I knew I had a hole in my heart. But I had been yearning for Bethany harder than I would’ve imagined possible.
She whimpered and clung to me. “I love you,” I said into her mouth, my teeth hitting against hers. It was enough to wake me up a bit, and I remembered we had an audience of my entire family.
Claim her. Now.
“Is love enough?” I asked when I pulled back. “Can you fully accept this part of my life? The part that nobody else can ever know about?”
She nodded eagerly with her arms still around my waist. “You accepted Tiffany with no judgment. It really isn’t all that different, is it? She’s a part of me like Artemis is for you. I want the whole package, if you can forgive me for my behavior.”
Artemis growled his approval, and he must’ve been projecting because all the men in the yard chuckled.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I said and pulled her closer for another kiss.
“I missed you, too.” She smiled up at me, and when I looked deeply into her eyes, I didn’t know how long I could wait to claim her. I had to have her.
“Go.” My father stepped up onto the deck. “I understand. We all do. Go.”
He knew Artemis was urging me to claim my mate. He’d been there before. I grinned at him and avoided the eyes of all the other people, all my family. They knew exactly where we were going and why. That was a little gross, so I pretended they had no idea as I grabbed Bethany’s arm and pulled her into the house.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a laugh as we crossed the kitchen.
“Your place,” I said. “If you’re going to be mine, I need to claim you.”
We hurried across the living room and out the front door. “Want me to drive?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, please.”
I hurried around to open her door, then ran back to jump into the driver’s seat. Bethany was already buckled and leaning toward me when I slid in. “Hurry,” she urged.
My mood and Artemis’s need to claim her must’ve been contagious between us because I could read the lust in her eyes like it was an open book.
As I turned her car around, she reached over and put her hand on my crotch. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to do, if you’re up for it.”
I looked at her in surprise as she reached for my belt buckle. I stretched and kept going slowly down the driveway as Bethany pulled my achingly hard dick out of my pants.
When her hot mouth closed over my head, I hissed and braked, worried I’d be too overwhelmed and run us into a tree. She moaned and that was nearly enough to do it. I spotted the driveway that led to Axel’s property and turned right. Halfway up the driveway was a small alcove in the trees.
Bethany’s SUV drove through the grass with no problem. As she licked up and down my shaft, I positioned the car behind a couple of trees. I couldn’t guarantee total privacy, but it was extremely unlikely Axel and Charlotte would leave the party this early. We had some time.
I put the SUV in park, reaching around Bethany’s body, then leaned my head back against the headrest and sucked in deep, calming breaths. I didn’t want her to realize how close I was to squirting my hot cum down her throat.
When the tingling in my balls grew too persistent, I pulled at her shoulders. She sat up and looked around in surprise. “Oh, thank goodness.”
I watched in amazement as she reached under her dress and tugged her slip of a G-string off. She waved it in front of my face for a second, then threw it in the floorboard before climbing over the gear shift. She clasped my dick,
